Baits for Peacock Bass Fishing In Brazil’s Amazon

Many people ask me, “what lures work best for Peacock Bass?” My basic rule of thumb is that you will usually catch 90% of your fish with whichever bait you use 90% of the time! Everybody has their favorite baits be it top water lures, jerk baits or jigs or occasionally spoons, and when it comes to fly fishing you will see everything from Deceivers and Clousers to tarpon and bonefish flies. The most important thing to remember is that a Peacock Bass is a predatory fish and will basically eat whatever he can catch, be it juveniles of his own species, bait fish, frogs, lizards, snakes, the huge grasshoppers that live in the Amazon and small Caymans. The Amazon and Rio Negro rivers are home to many varieties of fresh water tropical fish of which 22 million are exported from Barcelos each year and of which 1 in every 5 is the bright Cardinal Tetra. This brilliant minnow is iridescent silver/blue on the top and bright red on the bottom half of its body making red a very important color! Below is an overview of lures and the techniques for using them as well a few stories about fishermen using them, we will start at the top of the water column and work down…

Top Water Baits

There are basically two different types of top water baits to consider, the water ripping, noisy, hell raising “here I am” type lures and the more subtle “walking the dog” type lures.

Noisy Top Water LuresThe classic violent noisemaking top water lure is usually known as a “Wood Chopper”, a 4 – 7” chunk of pine ¾” in diameter with a big propeller or two attached to the front, the back or sometimes both ends, sporting up to three 4/0 3x heavy treble hooks! No matter how little English your South American fishing guide knows he will understand the words “Woodchopper” or just “Chopper.” This is the Big Fish bait of choice for a good percentage of the guides. When I once told my guide I would give him a $20.00 tip if he produced a 20 lb fish for me, his eyes brightened and he made me cast a Woodchopper type lure all day! You cast this lure, sometimes weighing up to 2 oz, into the next area code and when you run out of line or it finally lands you retrieve it with short quick jerks producing a water thrashing VROOOP, VROOP, VROOP sound that can be heard thru the entire lagoon in which you’re fishing! This is a great lure to use in the black water river where the Peacock Bass live because in the limited visibility of this type of water, this big noisy lure lets every fish in the general area know something is thrashing around on the surface. The neat aspect of this lure is if the seemingly foul tempered Peacock Bass is not in feeding mode, you seem to be able to piss him off into hitting (just to kill the damn noisy thing) by throwing the lure a number of times over him!!! And hit them they will, sometimes knocking them 5 feet into the air throwing water but not get hooked, or breaking the lure in half or tearing several 4/0 hooks out of the lure and giving you the mangled piece of wood back! Most every angler that has fished for Peacock Bass can come up with, as a trophy mind you, a mangled Woodchopper with the paint worn off, teeth marks along the sides and messed up hooks he used for fishing for Peacock Bass.

Originally made by Ozark Mountain bait company for Muskie fishing and made famous by Phil Jensen of Luhr Jensen Tackle Co. in the 90’s, the lure for the Peacock Bass fishing arena was made in many different styles. There was the 7 ½ Big Game Woodchopper, the 6 ¾” Woodchopper, the 5” Woodchopper, the Woodchopper Slim, the Amazon Ripper, and the small 4” Peacock Bass Special. Rapala purchased Luhr Jensen’s product line about 10 years ago and discontinued the Woodchopper line to the dismay of Peacock Bass fishermen. There are a number of manufactures making Woodchopper knockoffs including the very successful Rip Roller made by Terry Jertberg of the High Roller Lure Co, as well as the Pavone Prop and a K-Lure product. The last 3 IGFA All Tackle World Record monsters have all been caught on this type of top water lure; Doc Lawson caught his 27 lb world record on a Peacock Bass Special in November of 1994, Bill Gassmann caught his 28 lb world record on a 6 3/4” Woodchopper fishing with Captain Peacock in February of 2010 and Andrea Zacaherini caught a 29 lb Peacock Bass in November of 2010 on a 7” Pavon Prop. The old saying, “big waters, big fish” holds true for Peacock as the three largest Peacock Bass have all been caught on the upper Rio Negro River not in the smaller tributaries miles from the main river channels.

Much less often used are popping top water lures the likes of the old Hula Popper or Jerking Sam. These lures simply do not create the volume of noise the propeller lures do and usually give way to the next class of top water lures.

Subtle Top Water LuresWhen I talk about “subtle top water lures” I am referring to Spook type baits using the technique of “walking the dog.” This left, right, left, right action type of lure can be very effective on Peacock Bass appealing to a wider size range as the lures are usually considerably smaller and are fished much less aggressively than are the Woodchopper type. Probably the best know of this class of lures is the Zara Spook. Often these more subtle top water lures work well in areas where the fish have been exposed to heavy fishing pressure or when they are hitting short on a Woodchopper type top water bait. If you get fish rolling behind your noisy bait, switch to one of these quieter baits and your hook ups will often increase. One must remember you’re using 65 – 80 lb test braided Kevlar line for these powerful fish and normal treble hooks simply will not hold up when you have the reel nearly clamp dragged trying to keep these Peacocks out of the brush. Heddon makes a Salt Water Spook that is 4 1/2 inches long and has heavy trebles on it that will hold big fish but there are not many around that will fit the bill without modifications. Some other examples are Mirrorlure’s He Dog, Rebel’s Jumping Minnow, & Rapala’s Skitter. You need to get the longest variety available of these styles of lures, usually around 4 ½” and then do some experimenting to see what happens when you put 4x strong hooks on them. Ideally you would like to put extra heavy split rings on as well. However, you will find that adding both the rings and the 4x strong hooks will nearly sink some of these lures. I suggest you replace both hooks and split rings and see if they run right and if not go back to the lighter split rings.

Subsurface & Jerk Baits

Subsurface is where Peacock Bass, like most fish, do 99% of their feeding. The basic rule of thumb when Peacock Bass fishing is, if the fish rolls behind your lure and misses or simply does not get hooked, grab your 2nd rod with a subsurface bait on it and cast to the same spot and quite often you will get a hook up! Think about it, how often do you see a fish hit something on the surface, virtually never. Baitfish, juvenile Peacock Bass, tropical fish, 99% of what a Peacock Bass is going to eat is below the surface. It awesome to watch a top water strike, but subsurface is where you’re going to catch numbers of fish. Most any jerk bait or crank bait will produce results, but there are several factors you mush consider when fishing for Peacock Bass. First, you’re using 65 – 80 lb. test Braided Kevlar and playing a tug of war game trying to keep the Peacock out of the brush and cover once you’ve stuck them. Balsa wood baits tend to disintegrate under such conditions. Hooks must be big to get behind the big rolled lip of a big Peacock and ensure the hood will hold and they must be heavy and strong to put up with the power involved in fighting a big Peacock. To be able to handle big, strong, heavy hooks the lure must be fairly large or you destroy its action by putting heavier hooks on it. A good way to determine if the lure will hold up is if it says “Saltwater” on the packaging, as lures made for saltwater fishing are usually big and tough. These fish will straighten out 4/0 treble hooks, tear split rings apart and even tear the anchor screws completely out of lures!

Jerk BaitsAptly named, jerk baits are made to be used with the “yank & crank” method of fishing. You will want to yank the lure in with short quick jerks to make the lure dart, reel up quickly and than yank again all the way back to the boat. Make sure the jerk baits have a shallow running lip on them as you’re usually fishing around brush and structure that the Peacocks frequent. You are trying to awaken the Peacock’s instinct to chase and when they hit you had better have a good hold on the rod! Some of the most popular baits for this type of fishing are the old 7 inch Bomber Magnum Long A and the hugely popular 41/2”Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow. Both of these baits are made for Salt Water use and are made with big heavy hooks, O-rings and screws. Two other subsurface lures I have been impressed with the last couple of years are both Rapala’s, the X Rap & the Glidin Rap. You work these big saltwater style lures in a violent military style, left, right, left, right. Popular colors are chrome with blue or black back, scaled silver, red and white and root beer.

Twitch BaitsIsca Borboleta’s Perversa twitch bait, manufactured in in Brazil is the newest subsurface bait to make a big impact in the Brazilian Peacock Bass fishing scene. This 4” lure has more action than you could believe from looking at the lure. Short quick jerks of the rod tip make this lure dart erratically from side to side imitating a wounded bait fish. The quicker you can retrieve the Pervasa the more erratic it runs and the more appealing to the Peacock Bass it is. I took some under water, slow motion Go Pro footage of the retrieve of the Pervasa and its action was far greater than what we were seeing from above the water. Jerked short and quick, the lure not only moved erratically from side to side, but it also rolled, truly amazing action! It surprised me that a Peacock was actually able to get ahold of the Perversa! These lures can produce big numbers of Peacock Bass and some really big ones as well. It has become one of the top producing lures in the guides arsenal as of late. I like the bone color and the white with a red head combination. The Perversa is equipped with strong hooks that you do not have to worry about changing out.Spinner BaitsI mention spinner baits here simply because they are one of the favorites of bass fishermen in the US. May I simply say, great idea for Peacocks…but it doesn’t work well. A good size Peacock Bass will turn this safety pin bait into straight-line bait in no time. They simply are not durable enough for this game.

Jigs & Spoons

Jigs and spoons are a couple of the oldest type of artificial baits and flies to be used by Americans for Peacock Bass and are still some of the most effective!

JigsJigs will catch the biggest numbers of fish of any type of lure you will use for Peacock Bass, just not the way you fish them for Black Bass. Slow and easy, bouncing them off the bottom or thru treetops do not fit the bill here. Again, cast them out and jerk them back with quick and violent retrieve to instill that instinct to chase. This action also allows you to fish a heavy ½ - ¾ oz jig over brushy cover without getting hung up. The first thing to look for in a jig is the hook to make sure they sport a heavy saltwater 5/0 or 6/0 hook. The majority of the jigs used are made of buck tail with some Flashabo or Tinsel interspersed for a little flash. The most effective style of jigs used for Peacock Bass in the Rio Negro watershed has a 4 – 6’ length of 80 to100 lb mono tied to the hook onto which a second smaller buck tail is tied. This gives the impression of a 6” long buck tail jig. These jigs are very effective for casting or trolling. You will catch good numbers of Peacock Bass in the 3 – 10 lb range with jigs but they also appeal to the 20+ lb monsters. The most popular colors are red & white, green & white and red & yellow. Jigs are great for beginning Peacock bass fishermen as it takes only ground floor skill level to use one.

SpoonsOne of the first methods for fishing for Peacock Bass according to Larry Larsen, founder of the Peacock Bass Association, was trolling big Pet Spoons in Venezuela. Big #17 & 18-feathered Pet Spoons will still produce fish. Trolling can be a little bit like kissing your sister but allows you to cover a lot of water and can be very effective. In addition to the Pet Spoons, I have used Redfish spoons and the old Johnson Minnows. The big Pet Spoons will bring fewer hits but can produce some big Peacock Bass.

Flies

Flies are a very effective lure to use for Peacock Bass, not just casting with a fly rod but for use with trolling as well. Trolling flies just below the surface with no weight as well as attaching anywhere from a ¼ oz to ¾ oz bullet sinker 12 – 18 inches in front of the flies can produce big numbers of fish as well as big fish. There are no better lifelike lures than a Deceiver or Clouser style fly. If you’re looking to use flies for trolling look for ones with 3/0 or better heavy salt water hooks with an epoxy head sporting big holographic eyes for durability. We used to tie these flies from 5 – 8 “ long, but have found that flies in the 3 – 4” range work just as well and prevent a lot of short hits. Bring a good supply for if the Piranha decide they look tasty they do not last long! Popular colors are red & white, green & yellow to simulate a juvenile Peacock Bass, white & silver with a black back to simulate a Sardinia & yellow and red. See Fly Fishingfor more tips on fly fishing.

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